The name of Caron Butler was brought up not so long ago into the minds of the Celtics fans. It was around the All Star break of last year when we heard the rumors of Butler being traded to Boston for Ray Allen. It wasn't just some fan created rumor but a real possibility that almost happened. We discussed in length about this chance and many fans believed it was a good opportunity for the Celtics to shake up things back then when the team seemed stuck. Ray Allen stayed here and extended his contract and Caron Butler ended up being traded to the Dallas Mavericks. The Celtics made it to the Finals that year and Butler currently has a championship ring with the Mavs so I think it is fair to say that there are no regrets there. Plus, we would have inherited Antawn Jamison's bad contract too.

More than a year later, Caron is a free agent and the Celtics need some talent from the bench behind Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. We are trying to secure Jeff Green for the next season in Boston and we still need another piece of the puzzle for the wing. While Butler is more suited to play small forward, he has already played the 2 spot in Dallas.

Let me get straight to the point here: Caron Butler is a two time All Star with a tremendous ability to score and drive to the basket. He is athletic, still relatively young (31) and would allow us to sit Ray and Paul for longer stretches. He is a proven player and a very talented basketball player.

In a sense, adding Caron Butler would replicate some of the qualities of Paul Pierce as both players have been compared in the past. We would be able to keep those abilities for the bench.

The same could be said for the man people compare you most to, Paul Pierce. How do you think you stack up and are your games that similar?

CB: When you have someone that you idolize growing up and through college basketball, I mean, hopefully I can stack up to him one day and surpass him. He’s a great player... a great talent and I modeled my game after him.

I will say it again: we didn't fail in the playoffs this year for our starting unit. We just couldn't beat the Heat because we overplayed our starters, and not only the Big 3. Adding players like Gortat via trade and some athleticism and scoring punch from the bench would allow us to be a top contender for the title without breaking up the Big 4. I believe this team can win it all again and I want to see the current core get their second ring next season. I also think it is the most realistic and logical scenario.

How the Celtics could get him:

The Celtics would probably have to spend their full MLE on free agent Caron Butler. He earned more than $10 million last season so he would have to settle for less to come here. The Mavs will not be able to resign all of his free agents and eventually some of them will leave. They already have many good players at the 2-3 spot, particularly after trading for Rudy Fernandez in draft day. How much money would they offer him?

Butler may finally decide to give it a try with the Celtics and back up and occasionally play alongside his NBA role model Paul Pierce for the last stretch of his career.

Cons:

Butler hasn't been very healthy lately. He has suffered some important injuries and this may start to raise some concern around the league. At the same time that circumstance may lower his stock and be a more realistic target for the MLE

If the MLE is still an option for teams to use in free agency, signing Caron would most likely require to use it completely. That would leave us with only the LLE to sign another bench player (Kwame?), the veteran minimum (Powe?) and the sign and trade option with Davis or Green to get a center (Gortat?).

So it depends on the approach by the Celtics management in their way of retooling the team. We know we need a center but if we see that Chandler, Nene and Dalembert are out of reach then they may decide to try and find a good center via trade. That would leave us the MLE to find scoring help from the bench. And quite honestly, Butler would be an ideal candidate for that task.

11 Responses so far.

Well the thing is Anonymous, we can't afford any of the decent big men. The only one we could of signed was Perkins, b/c we had his Bird rights. SG and SF are the positions typically with the most available players.

I honestly think Boston Has lost all we keep talking about are wing men. Am i the only one who realies We are LAST in the league i rebounding since we started our big three. Whats the sense of playing tremendous defense if were just gonna give up the rebound and let you try again?

So, should next article be called: green target: Kwame Brown? Because that's a realistic option. But wait, you would want him for the veteran minimum, right? He already asked us for more last summer before we signed Shaq in his place. So do you want to spend half of the MLE or the LLE on Kwame? Think about it ;)

Teams aren't made in a season, and with the amount of available big men in the league at the moment, we can build a much better team buying big forwards instead of investing large amounts in mediocre big men.

Good job Bohemian. Butler will not come cheap but without question cheaper than he thought he would have before the injury. As far as bigs we need a miracle or someone to be very unselfish to sign for a chance for a title.

Kwame (Do Do) Brown and Ericka Dampier come to mind as cheap options but they are Brown and Dampier (not exactly exciting). Can beggars be choosers though?

Rebounding has never been Doc's priority. He sees more value in creating space, so he pulls the PF out away from the basket to shoot from the outside like KG. This also allows him to get four players back to defend the fast break. We will never lead the league in rebounding.

true we lost because we were injured first, as a result of which we had slightly less confident into playoffs, also doc did not have a good bench. he either did not prepare a good bench or just they werent good enough like baby. but delonte was good. i cant blame him. i think we should not do any trade for important piece like jeff green in february deadline. it doesnt give them enough time to prepare.

Very nice. Let's get Dwight Howard and make Orlando send him to a direct conference rival. And yes, let's get him without sending anyone of the Big 4. Awesome... Let's be realistic, Dwight to Boston will only happen if he decides to come here when he becomes a FA. So, it makes no sense now to write about Dwight in green this year.

What else...Chandler. The starting center for the NBA champion. His salary last season and his extraordinary play will make him even raise his salary...all we can offer is the MLE if it still exists. Can you explain to me how do we get him? Is it logical that Dallas lets his starting center leave to a contender? A trade? Who do we send?

Let's be realistic, people. The GMs in the league are not stupid. We can talk about centers like Kurt Thomas, Tony Battie, Joel Przybilla and heck even Aaron Gray. There is no realistic way in which we get a flashy name through free agency for the center position.

The only way to get a very good center would be through a trade (breaking the big 4 or hoping for a sign and trade of Davis plus picks) or waiting for the summer of 2012 and expect Howard to sign with us...which is just a matter of luck. Do you like playing lottery?